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General: Five Facts About Launch Day
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
Trion devs are pleased to announce the birth of its long awaited MMO, Rift. To celebrate the epic launch of one of the year's most keenly anticipated games, MMORPG.com Lead Writer Bill Murphy reveals some of the truths about MMOs in general, and MMOs on launch day in particular. Check it out and then add to The List in the comments below.
A while back we wrote a List all about the rituals of Launch Day. That was largely based on the opinion of one Bill Murphy (me). This week though, in honor of the birth of Trion’s baby known as Rift we’re going to go the route of complete and utter fact. That’s right, in an event that’s been heretofore unseen by human eyes, I’m going to write a List based completely and utterly on factual evidence. No opinions, no predictions, not even the slightest hint of editorial content. No sir-ee, this List is going to be nothing but cold hard facts surrounding one MMO-dom’s most fanciful events: The Launch Day. So sit buckle up, count your rosary (or whatever else might give you peace) and prepare for a wild ride down the “Fact Lane”. Get it?
Read more of Bill Murphy's The List: Five Facts About Launch Day.
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Comments
A fun list, though for the 1st time ever I number 3 is wrong...I got the name I wanted, 1st try. I am still astounded.
The last point is a good one, though it should also include those who DO hit the forums (instead of inside the game) and QQ to get a refund, how they wasted $, etc...
Aw, cmon. The name "Diana" wasn't take on a (high pop) shard last night.. :P
This is so true ! I've been sick and tired of seeing it happen over and over again. Luckly for me, most game have the "/ignore" command.
I hit up the head start and secured all my favorite names. First time EVAR!!!
I particularly like #1, and have always never understood those people. It never fails a game isn't even out for a day and people have a list of reasons why it is a complete failure. I mean c'mon it's day one you should have been able to voice those concerns before hand in open beta and if you did and knew it was still going to be there then why did you waste $50?
Also how do you know what a game is going to be like if you've only had 1 day? My favorite complaint from someone on launch day is "The community sucks". Really? Are you serious?
well for number 1 and 2 you always have block/blacklist
for everything else I have my 1-2 months rules, that is the time I normally wait for me to log till then people already settle and I don't need to have the server queue dance and wait(and hell why that is not on that list? XD every server has it, wow was the worse getting on a 72 hours wait time)
Good article. And good points. I rarely get the name i want for a game and end up making something up off the top of my head. But there are times I get the name bang on. Cheers you all.
Word.
Except the name thing, I'm good at making names that are unique. If I'm trying for a relatively "traditional" name, I make several, so that I'm not too disappointed if my first choice is already gone.
My favorite World of Warcraft addon is "IgnoreMore", which allows me to /ignore as many players as I want.
Have played: Everquest, Asheron's Call, Horizons, Everquest2, World of Warcraft, Lord of the Rings Online, Warhammer, Age of Conan, Darkfall
On #4 you are right to some extent, but I can honestly say almost every new MMO I have tried since I have played WoW has felt like WoW. Generally it is the UI and the way the game controls itself that is the most common factor. LoTR, EQ2,DDO, Aion, and a couple others when you first get on them feel like WoW because the UI are a lot alike and the way you do battle is the same. press 1- =sign use WASD to move etc. Like you said it was the first MMO for a lot of people so other games get compared to it.
Why? Because WoW is a amazing MMO with millions of players and highly successful, and alot of the new games, the developers often say like WoW Killer and etc, or fan made articles is this going to be the WoW Killer? A lot of gamers who are newer to the MMO scene like to have a reference point, like many other gamers do, but they tend to take it to the forums a lot quicker to say, "What game is this like? Oh, It looks like WoW."
Wrapping this up, I agree but I also disagree, I wish like you people would stop this comparing every new MMO that comes out to WoW. The likelyhood of WoW being toppled isn't very high in the current market, unless another big fan favorite turns into an MMO, like the new Star Wars. But it is fine to me, I play Final Fantasy XIV. It has gotten bad reviews but the game is amazing. So I don't rightly care what the idiots think. ( I apologize for bouncing back and forth on topics so much got a lot going on haha)
#4 I just feel sorry for people who do this
It is like they completely miss the point of a game. Their real life is likely so empty and so filled with failures that they feel the need to "win" at all costs at whatever game they play but they never realize that the way to win is to enjoy the journey and experience. To meet people and immerse into the world around you, not race past it.
#3 is the one that has often bothered me the most, but luckily I have a really really long list of names I like and I can always come up with new ones on the fly so I get around it.
#2 annoys me also, but I do understand where it comes from at least. But for me my MMO days started at EQ1 then AO and then DaoC, so WoW feels like those games and copied those games :P I will always maintain that WoW is like The Beatles, sure it is a good game and all but it would never be as big as it is now if it had not arrived at exactly the perfect time to utterly explode!
As to the rest, yay for ignore, yay for ignore indeed
Well Rift sort of asked for #2 on the list since much of their campaign for the last several months has prominently featured WoW.
Having played the beta I can also see why people would make the comparisons for Rift.
Huh? Ok, I get LoTRO, and EQ2 "feeling" like wow, but DDO doesn't control like WoW other than the fact that you use a keyboard and mouse.
I miss systems like DAOC had. Many people said it was clunky and didn't work well, but I don't think they really understood how it worked. Casters were interupted if they were hit, PERIOD. Not just a set back that they could cast through. Ability chains were awesome if you knew how to use them. You could que up moves, and even a default fallback in case the required reaction didn't take place.
But really, any MMO is going to have a UI, is going to use WASD and use the numbers to key abilities. There really isn't much else to do unless you plug in a game controller. If I wanted to plug in a controller, I'd play my Xbox.
I think games today do too much for you though. Little blinky lights and highlighted abilities telling you when you can use them, threat meters, etc. It's kind of like playing wack a mole with your keyboard.
on issue #4:
Its very common for companies to promote games on launch day by hiring people who play in-game with a group at cap or near cap to entice others into doing the same thing. They are required to act as "regular players" but are actually under the company payroll.
This is very common in Korean and Japanese games. To say "if you work hard you can be like me" as part of an advertisement campaign.
I know this well because every new MMORPG I start I always has an 8 player minimum. On the first day, we do not reach cap even playing with tactics in mind, helping each other. Of course I always see groups (sometimes less players than my own groups) at level cap with near maximum equipment.
Thats not "exploitation" as much as its "on the company payroll to promote a game."
@daelnor, DDO was one of the basic games I was talking about, where not a whole lot is like a game but because that fundamental UI set up and battle system (people use it in other games because it works so well) is the only thing that was the same. Don't overread into what I am saying about the Battle system altogether either. But all those games feel really familiar if you play them especially if you started with WoW first. That is the big name that is stuck in peoples heads and they are like Ohh Ok this is like WoW! But then again I am not saying they all copied WoW, because there was games out before MMOs that had the same control schemes and all that stuff.
I think the "WoW clone" comes down to the fact that it's considered the epitome of a themepark, "Take me on a ride," MMORPG. "Get quest, go here, do this, come back and level." This is versus the sandbox MMORPG like EVE and Ultima Online where "leveling" is optional content you can complete on the side while playing the game. Of course, "playing the game," is subjective so it's different for everyone. For myself, grinding to level 85 isn't playing. Grouping with friends to take down difficult content is playing. Getting to level 85 is just a forcibly long learning curve for me.
Oh, on a side note, +1 to this article for using "shard" instead of server.
I believe the most known at cap on game day I can recall is day 2 of BC after 36 hours of this person tagging a monster and guild finishing killing it for her ungrouped she was at 70... no content just mass slaughter
Thing is, so many games DO copy/paste WoW (Rift is one of them) that to say that they don't is a disservice to games and gamers in general. Acting like the EXACT same UI, combat, and quest systems in a game as there is in WoW is somehow that game NOT copying WoW and suggesting that this game is somehow original is just irresponsible and lazy. Please stop pandering to the lackluster, mainstream, uninventive, churn-out-a-levelgrind-copy games which have no interesting content or original ideas. There is literally NOTHING new about Rift AT ALL. Ininspired and mediocre craps like this should be despised as the bland, time-wasting garbage they are. They're the Justin Beibers of video games; seen it a million times, and completely boring. Acting like these games aren't copypasta of "safe" IPs is doing harm to games that truly don't copy the WoW/EQ formula of grind/loot, like Xsyon and Pre-Cu SWG. It's a shame, sir, a damn shame.
- Theguruofreason
Actually, the WoW UI is mostly a copy of the Asheron's Call 2 UI, as well as the control scheme. Personally I like it. It's very functional, many of the UI elements are out of the way of the viewing field of the character.
Back on topic:
I found the list to be spot on. Number 3 doesn't affect me too much since I have a long list of unique names, and I'm pretty good at making up names on the fly.
Asshats are fortunately taken care of by /ignore. Ironically, 4 and 1 kinda go hand in hand, powergamers will blow through the lower content to reach "endgame" and then complain about there not being enough to do.
So.. RIFT doesn't have anything in common with WoW?
BUY IT NOW!
I think you missed the most important fact about launch day:
- Launch day is the absolute worst time to play a MMO.
Perhaps people compare it to WoW since developers haven't had an orignal idea since 2004?
launch day or not, there will always be asshats, powergamers and whiners.
as for the names, i always make up new names for new games.